A Fish? Or an Ice Cream?

A Fish? Or an Ice Cream?

A Fish? Or an Ice Cream? The new rage on Internet over the Tayaki (fish-shaped) Ice cream cones.

New Yorkers are going berserk since this new store has opened up. The Internet is already gone into meltdown since the arrival of this new unique Japanese-influenced ice-creams are in town.

No, no don’t get confused. It does look like a fish, but it is not. Is it an ice-cream? Not entirely, no. It is a twist with Japan’s most beloved cakes known as Taiyaki. These storm troopers are Taiyaki ice-cream cones. Sounds yum! Yes it is and the Internet and New Yorkers have made it ‘o-Fish-ally’ awesome!

TAYAKI CAKE

Taiyaki is a Japanese sweet cake which is fish-shaped and it literally translates to “baked sea bream”. It is made with a rich waffle or pancake batter and is traditionally filled with a sweet adzuki red bean paste. The distinctive design of this popular confectionery comes from the uniquely fish designed cast moulds which they are heated in.

TAYAKI ICE CREAM CONES

This popular Japanese delight has now traveled across the Pacific and hit the new store in the heart of New York’s Chinatown, Tayaki NYC, and Little Italy, a brand popular among the people around the globe for its stunning sweets.

The stunning modified dessert is made from a batter that will give a slightly crispier waffle and a fish mouth that’s a little larger to hold the creamy soft ice cream, while its tail hides in it a surprise filling of custard or red bean paste. They are also available in variety of flavors such as, Green Tea and Black Sesame, Chocolate, and Plain Vanilla. There are various toppings available including sprinklers, fresh strawberries, wafers, sticks of mochi glutinous rice pieces, etc.

At the store Tayaki NYC, the unique design is created from special fish-shaped equipment that they have ordered from Japan and Taiwan. The idea popped up in the co-owner’s head, Jimmy Chen, when he fell in love with the cute-looking Tayaki on his visit to Japan. The store has had a great start, considering it opened on just September 16, and is already a success. Instagram, Facebook and other social media as well are already filled up with the cute images of Tayaki cones.

Tayaki Ice cream cones are being spotted all across US now. The rapid popularity of this goes on to prove that an accessible location and a big push on the social media sites can pay off very well in social media marketing, even if its just initially. It such a big hit among the people there, and we hope it continues to remain so. If you live in New York and haven’t tried it yet, should just go already and let us know how amazing is it.

Today is a very proud moment for the people of India, because the Government has finally avenged the deaths of the Indian army personnel in the attack on Uri. The leaders of the country and the Modi Government had condemned the attack fiercely, but no visible actions were seen taken to compliment the condemnation. But with the surgical strike carried out on Wednesday night, the government has yet again proved that they won’t falter due to any kind of attack that could cause a danger to the safety of our nation. They laid it out wide and clear, India should not be taken for granted.

Attack on Uri had left a deep impact on India, and it was obviously not going to leave the perpetrators of the attack get away freely. On Wednesday night, the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on the terrorist launch pads at the Line of Control(LoC). The Indian Army had received an intelligence that some terrorist teams had positioned themselves around the launchpads at the Line of Control with the mission to infiltrate into India and carry out terror attacks in important places and metro cities of India.

A surgical strike is a military attack that is intended to result in only damage to the intended legitimate military target and no or minimal collateral damage to surrounding structures, vehicles, buildings, or the general public infrastructure and utilities, as per the definition.

Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said on Thursday at the joint briefing of the Ministries of Defense and External Affairs , “Significant casualties have been caused to terrorists and those trying to shield them.” He also added that they have stopped any further strike as they have already spoken to Pakistan regarding the matter. No casualties were caused to the Indian Army during the strikes carried out on Wednesday night. But they have recovered various items including GPS which have Pakistani markings from the area of the attack, and the terrorists those who were captured hailed from PoK or Pakistan and have confirmed to their training on Pakistan’s land. Furthermore, DGMO Singh told the press that he has spoken on the matter with the Pak DGMO sharing with him concerns of the situation and about the surgical strikes conducted last night. PM Narendra Modi had informed President Pranab Mukherjee and former PM Manmohan Singh about the surgical strikes. Jammu and Kashmir Governor, and CM Mehbooba Mufti were also informed on the surgical strike. Other leaders who were also informed of the surgical strike were Chief Ministers of Punjab, West Bengal, and Odisha, CPI-M’s Sitaram Yechury and Congress’ Ghulam Nabi Azad by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

In the meantime, Pakistan issued a statement that said: “At least two Army men were killed as Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged fired over the Line of Control in “Azad Jammu and Kashmir”…Pakistani troops befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing on the LoC in Bhimber, Hotspring Kel and Lipa sectors.” Pakistan has been many times accused for sheltering terrorist camps in its region and they deny it. After this attack they could either use their special forces to answer back the Indian Army but it doesn’t quite look like that. They will be given a more hot reaction for whatever action they take. But as is the condition of Pakistan at the moment, they wouldn’t dare to attack on India.

A Pakistani army statement contradicted the Indian army statement which said that there was no surgical strike led by the Indian army, and that there was just a mere cross border fire initiated and conducted by the Indian army. They further added that the notion of surgical strike linked to alleged terrorists is a baseless illusion deliberately generated by the Indians to create false effects. Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif’s response was even more sharper than that of his army. He said, “We condemn this attack, our desire for peace should not be interpreted as our weakness.”

A retired Major General, Gagandeep Bakshi said the Indian action served rightly as a warning for Pakistan. He said, “It is a focused, precise and just response to the attack which led to the death of 18 of our soldiers. This is a message to the world that India cannot be taken for granted. Pakistan has been destabilizing peace in the region and this was long over-due.” A similar surgical strike was carried out in June last year across the Myanmar border which prevented the infiltration. A major gun battle took place between Army troops and suspected NSCN (K) militants along the India-Myanmar border.

The army action taken is likely to boost Modi’s image domestically given that he was under extreme pressure to take any action following the September 18 attack, as because, on the wake of the Uri attack he had promised to the nation that the guilty won’t go unpunished. Wisely enough, on the diplomatic front, he took care that the key countries like the US were to be informed of India’s military operation. Indian national security advisor, Ajit Doval spoke to his US counterpart Susan Rice on Thursday morning. Rice too condemned the September 18 attack and offered condolences to the victims and their families. Besides Rice agrees to India’s reiterations that Pakistan should take effective action to combat and delegitimize United Nations-designated terrorist groups and individuals, including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, and their other affiliates.

The army action has been appreciated and praised much at home. BJP National secretary, Siddarth Nath Singh said, “We salute the Indian armed forces and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for protecting our borders and the life of the people. It is a great effort by the Indian forces.” Even the opposition party Congress gave a thumbs up to the army action.

India has time and again proved its worth. Howsoever, may the conflicts exist among the communities of India, when it comes to the question of national security everyone is united and stands like an unbreakable wall, which is why India is among the strongest democracies in the world and we are proud of it.